Nvidia
This page should be rewritten using ["BinaryDriverHowto/ATI"] as a model, with an emphasis on the differences in procedure and packages between the current driver and the legacy driver. These differences are in the package containing the kernel modules in addition to the package containing the Xorg modules.
Enable restricted packages
The NVIDIA drivers are in the "restricted" section of the Ubuntu Package repository, so before you will be able to install the drivers, you must enable this section on your system.
Select the System menu at the top of the screen.
Select Administration then Synaptic Package Manager.
In the package manager, select the Settings menu, then Repositories.
In the Software Sources dialog that comes up, click the Add button.
In the Edit Repository dialog, ensure that the Restricted copyright box is checked, then press OK.
Press OK to close the Software Sources dialog, when Synaptic asks you to reload the package database, say yes.
You now have access to the many additional packages in the restricted section, including the NVIDIA driver packages.
Install and activate drivers
Packages may be installed by right-clicking on the package and selecting Mark for Installation.
Click the Search button and search for "nvidia".
If your card is a TNT, TNT2, TNT Ultra, GeForce1, or GeForce2, then install nvidia-glx-legacy, otherwise install nvidia-glx.
If you are running Hoary Hedgehog or Breezy Badger, then install nvidia-setting. DO NOT install nvidia-settings in Dapper Drake because it will remove nvidia-glx.
Click the Search button and search for "linux-restricted-modules". You must have restricted modules enabled (see above).
Find the appropriate module for your kernel. For example, if you have linux-image-amd64-k8 installed, then you should install linux-restricted-modules-amd64-k8.
Click the Apply button to install the new packages.
- Once Synaptic has finished applying your changes, exit the application.
Select the Applications menu at the top of the screen, then Accessories, then Terminal.
- In the terminal window, type the following:
sudo nvidia-glx-config enable
Close all your applications, then press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart the X server. If you see an NVIDIA splashscreen after hitting Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, your drivers are properly installed.
Remove the nVidia logotype
If you want to get rid of the nVidia logotype that shows up before your login screen you need to perform some manual edits in the Xorg configuration file.
Select the Applications menu at the top of the screen, then Accessories and then Terminal.
- Type the following:
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
- Find the line Driver "nvidia" in the Device section
- Just after this line, add
Option "NoLogo"
- Save the file and exit
Close all your applications, then press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart the X server. If the logotype is gone and everything seems to work you are done.
Notes
If you are going to compile 3d applications, you will want to install the nvidia-glx-dev package
Note: If you wish to use these drivers and run the XMMS music player, you should be aware of [https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1724 this bug (fixed at least in Breezy]. You can get around this bug by installing libmik.
Note: Be sure to have the right version of linux-restricted-modules installed. It must match the version of the running kernel.
Note: RenderAccel has a bug. Memory leak and crashes. Disable it in /etc/X11/xorg.conf in the section "Device".
Option "RenderAccel" "false"
Note: If you get an error while loading NVIDIA module try to rebuild module dependencies - in Terminal run :
sudo depmod
Note: nvidia-glx provides a utility called nvidia-xconfig which can configure many of these options, including enabling TwinView. This utility is provided by NVIDIA, not by Ubuntu. To see all the options, open a terminal window and type:
man xconfig
Getting suspend to work with the binary driver: See NvidiaLaptopBinaryDriverSuspend
For other drivers, refer to the BinaryDriverHowto Part of UserDocumentation